Former Federal Secretary for Migration Theo Francken on Tuesday piled the pressure on the Belgian parliament to reinstate the asylum quotas put in place during his tenure even though they were declared illegal by the supreme administrative court.
During a vote on the federal monthly budget, Francken, member of the nationalist Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie (N-VA), conditioned his vote on the reinstatement of the quotas, according to Le Soir.
Francken had imposed a maximum quota of 50 asylum applications to be accepted each day by the Foreigners Office during his tenure as Secretary for Migration.
The measure was lifted by current migration secretary Maggie De Block after Belgium's Council of State judged it illegal.
Despite opposition from Francken's N-VA as well as from far-right Vlaams Belang, the budget measures were adopted through october and should be adopted in a plenary session on Thursday.
Gabriela Galindo
The Brussels Times
